If you family is like mine, you find your self running in every directions with NO time for the kitchen. You want to feed your family a healthy meal, so you don't want to hit the drive throw every day, but what else can you do??? Make your crock pot your BEST friend!! It is one of the tools in my kitchen I could not live with out. I can load it up before bed turn my timer on and when I get up in the morning dinner for that night is done, all I have to do is heat it up when we get home! Sunday evenings we will load it up with chicken and then use the shredded chicken in many different meals for the next 3-4 nights. It is easy to make a home made meal when the meat part is all ready cooked ahead of time for you! We throw the chicken over beans and rice one night, make fajitas another night, throw in some carrots, canned beans and chicken broth the third night and you have soup. Hours in the kitchen turn into minutes in the kitchen when you cook smart and use the tools around you!

Here is another fun recipe for your crock pot:

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients:

No-Stick Cooking Spray

2 cans (8 oz each) Tomato Sauce with Basil, Garlic and Oregano (you can find these BOGO at Publix all the time)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (you can also buy the crock pot sauces and use it in place of this and the next 2 ingredients)

I have a question to pose to you. Really give this some thought before you answer. If your house was on fire and you only had seconds to grab your most cherished possession, would it be your Bible or your cell phone? I do not know anyone who does not have a cell phone and even young children have them. I observe people who are constantly texting or calling or using their cell phones for keeping up on Facebook or other websites. They don't go anywhere without it and even if you are talking to them and their phone beeps, they immediately check the message because they have to know the important news. They hold it so carefully and it's always in plain site so they don't miss anything. It is their lifeline that they cannot do without, even for a short time. Have you noticed that when you're on a airplane and it lands and the "all clear" message is given to turn on cell phones, everyone is rushing to turn on their phones to see what they have missed while in flight. This blog is not meant to be down on cell phones by any means. I have just joined the "smart phone" generation as my husband bought me one for Christmas. I can't get use to a phone that is much smarter than I am, but I'm sure I will learn to use it, eventually. Thinking about all the time I've invested in learning about my new phone made me think about all this. Maybe our first thought in the morning as we open our eyes should be to say, "Good morning, Lord! Here I am reporting for duty. Direct me throughout this day and use me." Then, go to our quiet place and spend time in His word and in prayer to be fully equipped after we put on our spiritual armor.Time in His word should be our number one priority each and every day. His Word is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. It's our daily nourishment which sustains us in the cruel world we live in. We need to hide His word in our hearts so we will have swords to fight our enemy, Satan, who is constantly roaming the earth, seeking whom he may devour. Cell phones are great and help us keep in touch with our friends and family, but just keep the right balance with the time you spend on your phone versus the time you spend with the One who loves you most! Just think about it.

Are you one of the many people who makes New Year resolutions? Then you are in good company! I have to say I’m fighting the urge because year after year I fail to keep them. I remember last year I decided to eat healthier, have a meal plan with an organized grocery list for my family, keep an exercise routine, read the Bible through in one year…Yeah, right! None of it really happened the way I planned it. So should I give up on making these plans?

Thousands of people make plans in the beginning of the New Year about new diets, new exercise plans, more discipline etc. Even if you don’t make it verbal or don’t post it on your fridge, in your mind you make those plans, because a new year seems to be the perfect time to have a new beginning. The perfect time to start something new. But what will I actually be able to keep up with this year? I could try to be more disciplined in my Bible reading, serve more in His kingdom, share His good news, spend more time with my family… but that means I would have to have a really good schedule, eat really healthy and exercise, so I can keep up…

I don’t have a clue how I’m going to do this. Why am I doing this? Why am I applying this pressure on my life? Are these plans to make me feel good? Is this my attempt for the New Year to please God? Is this the good news of Christianity? Is the Gospel of Jesus to make us crazy and weary making new plans to be better, to obey, to do more… only to fail again? No its not!

In his book “Gospel” JD Greear says: “Being converted to Jesus is not just about learning to obey some rules. Being converted to Jesus is learning to so adore God that we would gladly renounce everything we have to follow Him.” But how do I get there? How do I know in my heart that no matter how many times I fail, His love toward me does not change? How do I live a fruitful and peaceful Christian life this year?

JD Greear goes on to says: “In the last message Jesus gave to His disciples, He told them that the way to fruitfulness and joy – the ‘secret’ to the Christian life – was to abide in Him. They wouldn’t produce ‘abundant fruit’ by reading books, intensifying their self-discipline, memorizing Scripture, or getting in accountability groups. Those things all have their place, but real fruit comes from one place: abiding in Jesus.”

Abiding in His love is what I will do more of this year! I will not focus on the spiritual fruits in my life, but focus on Jesus’ acceptance and love for me as a gift. Martin Luther said that we must daily “embrace the love and kindness of God…and daily exercise our faith therein; entertaining no doubts of God’s love and kindness.”

“I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:18-20Krisztina White